Barge Operators Struggle Along the Mississippi

River-Dependent Businesses Take Steps to Limit Their Exposure to Extreme Weather

By

Cameron McWhirter and

Caroline Porter

Aug. 25, 2013 8:12 p.m. ET

Mississippi River barge operators and their customers had been hoping business would get back to normal this year after two years of extreme weather that wreaked havoc on the river's bustling freight traffic.

But massive flooding in 2011 and last year's drought have permanently altered some aspects of shipping on the Mississippi and its tributaries, the nation's largest river system and one of its most important commercial...